Legislature Addresses Status of Boys and Men of Color on August 17, 2011, at State Capitol

Swanson’s Select Committee on the Status of Boys and Men of Color meets to improve the educational, economic, and health outcomes for minority youth

(Sacramento, CA) – Assemblymember Swanson’s Select Committee on the Status of Boys and Men of Color in California will hold its first hearing on Claiming the Promise of Health and Success for Boys and Men of Color on Wednesday, August 17, 2011, from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Room 437 of the California State Capitol.

“We are losing an entire generation of our children by focusing on the wrong things,” explained Swanson. “It’s no longer a fight over numbers. The numbers have been reviewed to death and the educational, economic, and health disparities facing California’s Latino, Black, Asian Pacific Islander, and Native American boys and men are indisputable.”

“Homicide is the leading cause of death of Black youth and the second leading cause of death of Latinos. In California, Latino unemployment is at 14.7 percent and is a staggering 19.5 percent for Blacks. Fewer than half of our young men of color have jobs and one-third of them are incarcerated or on probation or parole.”

“It is absolutely unacceptable that our state spends more feeding our men in prison than it spends to improve their success in public school,” Swanson emphasized. “My committee plans to fundamentally reform the treatment of this vulnerable population of men. There is no time to waste. In the face of demographic and social realities, California must lead the way in understanding and improving opportunities for Latino, Black, Asian Pacific Islander, and Native American youth,” concluded Swanson.

The Select Committee on the Status of Boys and Men of Color in California will host a series of hearings throughout the state over the next year. It will present a final report and recommendations during an August 2012 hearing at the State Capitol. The committee includesAssemblymembers Swanson (Chair), Steven Bradford (D-Gardena), Nathan Fletcher (R-San Diego), Warren Furutani (D-South Los Angeles), Richard Gordon (D-Menlo Park), Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield), Tony Mendoza (D-Norwalk), and Anthony Portantino (D-La Canada Flintridge).